Dec 28, 2015 by Simon Brown in Wall of Separation
This may come as surprise to some who view Francis as a progressive force within the church.
Pope Francis’ reputation for being relatively liberal coupled with the fact that marriage equality is the law of the land in the United States has left many Americans hoping that the Roman Catholic Church is prepared to soften its stance on same-sex unions. But if recent events in Slovenia are any indication, the church has yet to change its mind.

Back in March, Slovenian lawmakers passed a marriage-equality law. It also allowed same-sex couples to adopt children. Unfortunately that did not sit well with some of the conservative groups in that predominantly Catholic country of just over two million people, and they managed to collect tens of thousands of signatures as well as convince the courts there to require that this matter be put to a public vote.

Ahead of that vote, Pope Francis addressed Slovenian pilgrims gathered at the Vatican in mid-December. While he did not specifically tell them to oppose marriage equality, his words left little room for interpretation.

“May you carry my gratitude to the Church of Slovenia for its efforts in favor of family,” Francis said. “I want to encourage all Slovenians, particularly those with public responsibilities, to preserve family as a basic cell of society.”